It took Caspian that single comment to cut off a whole foot of hair. Girls in the hall wailed and mourned at the loss his silky locks, but I thought he looked ten times better.

On the other hand, it took Paris exactly twelve days for him to reappear in class, and when he did, his arm was in a sling. the second he walked through the art class door, i gasped and stood, racing to his side. "Paris!! What happened??"

He blinked, then smiled at me. "Ah! Mon Cheri, I am okay. I...fell."

I could feel Caspian's hard gaze on us, and when I looked over, his eyes looked red in the lights. They did that a lot more often now that his hair wasn't covering his eyes so much. I smiled happily, taking Paris's hand and tugging him over. "Casper, look!! Paris is back!! isnt that amazing??"

A muscle feathered in his jaw as he gritted his teeth, but he forced a dazzling smile anyway. "...That's just perfect..." He was staring at Paris's cast with a funny look on his face, and Paris whipped out a purple marker out of nowhere. "You wanna sign it?"

I gasped. "Oh, yes! I love that color." Taking it, I started to scrawl my name, then stopped. "....oh."

Both Paris and Caspian looked over at me immediately and spoke at the exact same time. "What?"

I pointed at my name. "...I spelled it wrong. How the fuck did i spell my own name wrong--"

Paris blinked and then started laughing, and even Caspian seemed amused. "...Oh."

I glared at them both, embarrassed. "...Its in marker too."

Paris snorted, peeking at it. "...A...u...d...e...r...y? Oh my god--"

Caspian huffed, glaring at Paris with me now. "Dont laugh at her!!"

He giggled. "It's just so funny. Here, Audery, why dont I take you to Seven Eleven to make up for it?" He said my name purposely how I spelled it, and i huffed, then thought about it. 

"Will you buy me a whole bag of jolly ranchers?"

He nodded seriously. "Two whole bags."

I shook my head. "No. Just one. I want five...no, six lollipops instead of the other bag."

He grinned at me, lavender colored bangs in his eyes, and I noticed that his left front tooth was slightly crooked. It was adorable. "Deal."

Caspian was frowning at Paris, and I paused, feeling bad for making plans in front of him without inviting him. "Casper, do you want to come too? Maybe I'll hold your hand."

He looked to me, immediately brightening. "Yes. Please."

Paris frowned. "But he didn't spell his name wrong!! I'm not buying him anything if he comes."

Caspian shrugged, running a hand through his hair, still watching me. "I don't care. I don't like you."

I blinked, then laughed, not sure why i found his abruptness so funny, but I did. Caspian smiled softly, clearly prod to have made that noise come out of me himself, and Paris had an affronted expression on his round face. "Odj, are you just going to let him talk to me like that??"

I grinned, nodding at him. "Yes. I like that nickname, though."

He paused, then looked just as proud as Caspian, and I smiled to myself, turning back to my art project.

- - -

True to my word, the second we left the school as the three of us I grabbed Caspian's hand.  He seemed startled, looking down at me, and then squeezed my hand. I grinned, glancing at Paris, who was pouting, but his hand was in a cast on my side so I couldn't have really held his hand anyway.

"So, France," I said, looking for conversation. "What did you fall off of?"

Caspian glanced over, seeming annoyed all of the sudden, and Paris paused. "Oh...a....ladder. My sister wanted me to help her start to put up Halloween decorations, and I slipped." He didn't look at me while he said it, and I blinked, trying to ignore the sneaking suspicion that he was lying to me, because why would Paris do that?

"Oh," I said. "That's boring. But hey! Guys, we should dress up for Halloween and go trick-or-treating together!!"

Caspian hummed his agreement, swinging our arms slightly, and Paris grinned. "Ooh, I'd love to. I'm going as the flea from A Monster in Paris."

I gasped, a hand flying to his sleeve and tugging excitedly. He was wearing a pale yellow sweater, which I adored, with a white collared shirt beneath it, so he looked like a preppy Englishman from a private school with uniforms. "I LOVE that movie!!!" My voice had risen an octave in my eagerness, and he giggled. "Yeah?? It's a pretty good movie--"

Caspian suddenly interjected. "I'm going as Jack the Ripper."

We both looked over, quiet, and the tips of his ears turned slightly pink as he stared back at us.

"Oh, look, we're here."

Paris said it to break the silence, holding the door of the convenience store open for me, and I let go of Caspian's hand to walk inside. Paris closed the door on Caspian, who yelped and shot him a death glare. I giggled. "If looks could kill, Paris, Caspian would have jumped you in an alley and beat you to death with a rock."

Caspian looked over with slightly wide eyes, a strange expression on his face, and Paris laughed, suddenly seeming nervous. "Let's not give him any ideas, shall we?"

I hummed, heading for the candy aisle, smiling, and Caspian followed quickly.